Rwanda. It’s a small country. So small that on certain maps of Africa it is marked with only a dot. You must read the accompanying explanatory notes to discover that this dot, at the continent’s very center, indicates Rwanda. It is a mountainous country. Plains and plateaus are more characteristic of Africa, whereas Rwanda is mountains and more mountains… High yet gentle peaks stretch before you into infinity. They are emerald, violet, green and drenched in sunlight. It is a landscape devoid of the dread and darkness of rocky windswept peaks, precipices, and cliffs; no deadly avalanches, falling rocks, or loose rubble lying in wait for you here. No. The mountains of Rwanda radiate with warmth and benevolence, tempt with beauty and silence, a crystal clear, windless air, the peace and exquisiteness of their lines and shapes.
From: The Shadow of the Sun, Ryszard Kapuscinski
So, drenched in sunlight, the mountains in these photos are not... the days were not after all, sunny. However that description is a lovely one, and somehow accurate. Rolling hills and benevolent mountains, yes. Up and down and up and down you go. Roads ride up on a ridge for as long as they can and then wind down into a valley. The hills and mountains are a patchwork quilt of gardens growing things, the valleys are filled with rice patties, tea plantations, corn fields and the occasional lake. You then climb back up and over another ridge to find more endless hills/mountains stretched out before you. Lots of little towns along the way, neat and tidy towns. Maybe even more so than Uganda (which is more so than Kenya). Very orderly. It certainly doesn’t feel especially populated, though every inch of every hill and valley seems to be intentionally growing something or other. No ground lies idle, thats for sure!
I just returned from 5 days exploration in Rwanda with our program driver Vincent, and one of our interns, Jones. Every semester we take our students on a 9-day trip to Rwanda to experience a different part of east Africa. We will go as a group in April, and so the three of us set out to plan for this April trip; make deposits, secure guest speakers, get advice, determine the sites we will visit etc. It was a very packed five days...
We spent most of our time in the capital, Kigali, which is an incredibly hip, clean, modern city in amongst the hills: a mix of big modern city and small town, all swirled together.
Meetings, appointments, driving here and there and back again, a different guest house every night... the last day we drove three hours to Butare- in the south to see the National Museum, the National University Rwanda, and one of the memorials there.
Exhausting, intense, exciting, fun, good.
A 13+ hour drive back home, the very worst of which was the last hour and a half-- the time it took to go the last ten kilometers or so through Kampala-Mukono traffic. Glad, oh-so-glad to be back.
See you in April, Rwanda!
2 comments:
Rach...absolutely stunning! My mom says so too...she really needs to comment on her own sometimes:)
I so often think of Rwanda in terms of its sad, violent recent history. . .but of course that's because I've not been and seen its beauty, as you have. I really appreciated the pictures and description; it looks like a stunning country and makes me want to visit!
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